Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Dude is a Prince

Dear WR:

I confess that I am both highly flattered and somewhat dumbfounded tobe the subject of such literary interest. I assure you that I don'tthink of myself as particularly successful, from a publishingstandpoint, and I have received far more rejections than acceptances.Since I imagine some of your readers are interested in hard numbers, Ihave received approximately 11,100 rejection letters over the pastfifteen years--as well as one phone rejection (from the late,brilliant George Plimpton at the Paris Review); since I've publishedeighty-two stories, that's a decidedly low acceptance to rejectionratio. I suppose the key to the limted successes that I have had isperseverence. And a great deal of good old-fashioned dumb luck. Andthe reason I keep doing it so simple that it may disappoint some ofyour readers: I love writing stories.

I do have one piece of advice for other writers: Don't take rejectionpersonally and never take it to heart. I've received a number ofstrange, discouraging, and even provocative rejection letters over theyears, but my two favorite read as follows: The first letter stated:"I imagine some editors find your work amusing, although I cannotimagine why. Please don't send your work to XXXXX ever again."Another, from a different journal, read in entirety: "Dear Mr. Appel:Do not consider this note of rejection specific to this story.Consider it a preemptive rejection of anything else that you arethinking of sending our way. The Editors." The two letters hang onmy office wall. And I continue to submit to both journals in the hopethat their editors will have a change of heart or pass the editorialbaton to a more receptive audience.

I also hope that I will publish a book someday. I remain cautiouslyoptimistic. I suspect your readers will be among the first toknow--that they may even find out before I do.

All the best of luck with your fascinating website. I have only hadan opportunity to peruse it briefly, but I think it's one of thecleverest sites on the internet. If there are any other specificquestions that you have, feel free to put them my way.

11,100 seems unrealistic. Even considering Duotrope.com, the number of literary magazines are in the low-to-mid hundreds. Those that aren't listed on Duotrope are few. Once theme magazines and magazines from only certain people (certain races, genders, countries) are accounted for we are still in the low hundreds. Once we subtract from magazines that allow no more than 1-3 submissions per year from individuals, we are still left with very few publications.

Considering how great a writer he is, I have an even harder time believing it. The gifted, but humble, will always try to be encouraging and will often resort to falsehoods in order to inspire others. I'm not saying he did this, but 11,100 rejections is just questionable from someone so young.

Oh, no, I didn't mean it like that. It's just that it so hard to believe.

1. The amount of stories he has written (I don't believe he said how many).

2. His age (clearly young)

3. 11,100 rejections (yet no mention of the magazines or how many magazines or where he found information about them even though the greatest internet aggregator doesn't have that many listings in total for literary/mainstream fiction. Even taking into account all genres including erotica, the total is only 2,000+ and Duotrope is only a few years old. If we take response times into account and lack of simultaneous submissions, then we have to consider the amount of years that would have to pass in some cases).

4. He is clearly a gifted writer and has gifted writer's typically don't get that many rejections with so few acceptances. There is a rumor that William Saroyan was rejected 7,000 times, but I've seen no confirmation of it, especially since that was the pre-internet era.

Rules of the Game

4) Be nice to one another. The world is already overpopulated with asses.

Guess What?

After 15 years of rejections (most of them posted here along with all the rejections you've sent me over the years), my novel is getting published by a literary press. Little third-gendered me will soon have a book you can read for yourself and see if the hundreds of rejections were misguided or not. For more on the matter, read this post and this one too.

People Magazine Picks Miracle Girls

What the What? (This is actually for real.)

ew.com blog review

"Failure is the New Funny. Whether you're a writer ... or a bookworm ... Literary Rejections on Display is worth checking out."

Huff Po Compliment

"A highly entertaining blog."

The Millions Assesses

"An answer to what to do with your rejections: throw them away, but first, complain about them on the internet!"

Gawker Gawks LROD

"A reminder of the competitive pressures that help drive some authors to start plagiarizing and making things up."

GALLEYCAT Chimes In

"Excellent blog."

The Boston Phoenix Rises

"Might we suggest whiling away the hours with Literary Rejections On Display? We've been hooked for the last couple of weeks..."

Psych Today Puts LROD On The Couch

"An author who, like the rest of us, experiences many more rejections than acceptances."

Blogher Offers a Female Nod

"And since something isn't really something until there's a blog about it, I give you Literary Rejections on Display."

Poets & Writers Questions LROD

"Isn't it part of the writer's job to learn from--rather than reject--rejection?"

HTML GIANT Confesses

"I am sort of addicted to this site. I go through phases: I check it regularly, then I stop myself and ignore it for several months. Then I remember it again and sift through its wreckage."

The Village Voice Bitches About LROD

"Deliberately composed of unpublished individuals who wear their rejection slips as badges of integrity."

Cape Cod Times Gets the Joke

"Caschetta’s wit sparkles in “Literary Rejections on Display,” a humorous and intelligent look at the literary world"